by Cosmo Lee

Roger Miret says what he means. That much is evident from his lyrics as the singer for seminal New York hardcore punk band Agnostic Front. While his unmistakable bark is one of hardcore's signature voices, most people don't know that Miret has another side. In 2002, Roger Miret and the Disasters debuted with a self-titled album of straight-up street punk, with a three-chords-and-the-truth approach that harkened back to classic English punk like The Clash, The Buzzcocks and Stiff Little Fingers. After two years of touring clubs with bands like Rancid, The Casualties and the Dropkick Murphys as well as playing arenas with Good Charlotte and New Found Glory, Roger Miret and the Disasters are back with a new album, "1984."

The inside cover to "1984" says "Loud Fast Street Rock n Roll" but the tunes actually aren't that fast, at least compared to the militant, metal-edged precision of Agnostic Front. The 'loud' and 'street' parts are right on though. This is pure rock 'n' roll through and through. The record is packed with storytelling lyrics, simple but effective guitar playing and lots of gang choruses to keep the punk purists happy. The honesty and energy of "1984" is reminiscent of when Rancid's first album exploded onto a music scene deep in the throes of grunge. In fact, the agile, melodic bass playing here brings to mind Rancid's Matt Freeman and the record is out on Rancid guitarist Lars Frederiksen's Hellcat label. Here is what the living legend had to say about what being a New York punk means now.

After 20 years in Agnostic Front, how did Roger Miret and the Disasters come about?
I was had been writing songs that were not quite Agnostic Front’s style and I didn’t want to compromise either the songs or the nature of agnostic front. So I just kept them away and let the songs I was writing go unheard until I found a fitting outlet for them. That outlet was the Disasters. With the help of some good friends, I started working on my songs that had been gathering dust, made them into a record, and released it on Hellcat under title Roger Miret and the Disasters.

How have people in the hardcore scene reacted to the Disasters?
Really receptively. Obviously not everyone who’s into Agnostic Front and hardcore is going to like the Disasters. But since the beginning of the Disasters, we have always had a noticeable hardcore representation at our shows. Many fans of agnostic front are quite open-minded and once they gave the Disasters a chance found that, although the style is quite different, they would quickly become fans of the Disasters as well.

New York City has obviously changed a lot since the '80's. What does it mean now to be a New York punk?
Both NYC and the punk scene have changed a lot. Both are much safer now. The Lower East Side has become trendy and developed, and in some ways so has being a punk. Being a New York punk always had a bit of a tough street connotation to it. New York punk still has this attitude as well as a love for the city and the streets inherent in it.

How did Agnostic Front come to appear in Matthew Barney's "Cremaster 3" movie?
Matthew Barney is a friend and a fan of our music for many years. He approached me at a show and asked if I would like to be a part of his film and I accepted his invitation. We had an amazing time doing it and just hanging out with Matthew is a great time!

Agnostic Front recently put out a well-received album. Is it hard to balance your commitment to your two bands?
It definitely doesn’t leave me with much free time! Really, the scheduling can be very difficult since in both bands we tour pretty heavily. But I will always find time to do both and to put an equal amount of time, energy and heart into each band.

Bad Religion opened for Blink-182 and Roger Miret opened for Good Charlotte. Has the world turned upside down?
Not at all, I think it’s a good thing. First off, I’ve always been an advocate for diversity on tours, which is why I have played with such a large range of bands in both Agnostic Front and the Disasters. From punk to hardcore to metal and everything in between. Who really wants to go to a show and hear the same sound over and over again with each band that plays? I get asked about this a lot, but there has never been a point where I regret doing that tour. All the bands and crew treated us great and we made some good friends. Their fans were extremely open and we had an excellent response each show. It was a really good time.

You're trained as a Harley-Davidson mechanic, and you also work on cars as a hobby. Tell us a bit more about this side of Roger Miret.
Yeah, this is definitely a life-long hobby. I used to work as a Harley mechanic for some time actually. My love for cars is in the old pre-60s customs. I started a national car club called the Rumblers, which had various chapters around the country now going strong.

www.thedisasters.com

2005 "1984" (Hellcat)
2002 "Self-Titled" (Hellcat)